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a great and comfortable buy, very happy with this brand

I have been wearing contact lenses for the past eight years and I love them. A little while ago my optician changed my usual lenses to ciba vision air optix. I was happy with the last ones but they discontinued them but I couldn't be happier with the air optix monthly lenses. I go to my local Tesco optician and buy three months worth at a time; they cost me just over £28. That works out to be under £10 a month which I think is a bargain. I find them easy to put in and take out, unlike other brands I have tried. When they are in they are very comfortable and I don't even notice that they are there at all. Unlike some of the other reviews on here I don't get any problems with them such as scratching or burning. They keep my eyes moist through out the day as well. The only thing I do find wrong with them is that as I get towards the end of the month they start to loose their clarity and are a little bit fuzzy. This isn't a big issue as it's not enough to impair my sight and I don't really notice it until I put my new ones in and they are really clear in comparison.

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I have no reservations whatsoever in recommending this product to anyone.

I have an unusual level of astigmatism which has meant that I've been a glasses wearer most of my life. Around age 20 (30 years ago!) all you could get were hard lenses. I wore those for 5 years until problems developed. Since then it was glasses all the way... Contact lenses for my prescription had always been difficult to get at a reasonable price for years. However, about 2 years ago, I needed to get a new pair of glasses, and decided to check on the availability of disposable contacts - at one time you couldn't even get permanent soft lenses for my degree of astigmatism.

So I enquired in Vision Express, had an eye test, and they confirmed I could get monthly wear lenses. There isn't of course a daily wear pair available for me (yet). Also, the possible prescription had to be something of a compromise - I could either choose to have better distance vision, or better close up vision. I went for the former, as I do a lot of driving.

The trying on of the lenses for me was tricky. Although I'd had lenses years ago, even back then I've always been super-sensitive about things going near my eyes - purely an automatic physical reflex, which I find difficult to consciously override. So getting them in and getting them out took me about an hour! A large part of my difficulty was the size of the lenses in relation to my eye, especially the left eye which seems to be that bit smaller. The member of staff at Vision Express was HUGELY patient however! His instructions on inserting and removing were good and helpful. The biggest difficulty (and fear) I had for a time after I got them was not being able to get them out. But of course having had them for two years now I have no trouble at all.

So I got my lenses, which are mailed out in a pack of three pairs (one box for the left eye, one for the right), with 3 storage cases, one for each month, and 3 bottles of Ciel All-In-One solution for storage, cleaning and wetting. As mentioned above, I had struggles in the early days with insertion and removal, because I really do find it hard to suppress the blink reflex when going near my eyes. I've persisted though, as I was really fed up wearing glasses, and am so glad I did.

Within just a few days I was wearing the lenses all day long. They are perfectly comfortable. Indeed I went for a check up just recently and the opthalmist told me not to wear them so much every day as he noticed some dryness. Yet I certainly have no discomfort whatsoever. The only problem with the lenses ever is down to being in very dry air in offices. They can get blurry and gunge up. However it's no problem in any other circumstances.

So what else can I tell you... I'm very happy with these lenses, and unless an affordable daily wear type comes out, I intend to go on wearing them as long as possible. At the moment I'm paying £20 per month to Vision Express via a direct debit to my bank account. The fluids supplied last far more than a month and I'm starting to develop a bit of a spare stock! I use it liberally but after two years I've ended up with around 5 bottles extra unused. Also, I've got all the little storage cases and old lenses to do something with every month. There's not much ecological impact from the tiny plastic lenses, but I'm more bothered by the 24 cases I've got kicking around, so I'm going to see if I can arrange just to get lenses only supplied, and if I can reuse the old cases instead. They're in perfect condition, so I really don't see why not.

So, to conclude, a very good product which I'm very content to go on using for as long as I can.

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For some unfathomable reason, Ciba decided to replace Focus night and Day with air Optix. They scratch, burn and are hard to put in. Why oh why did they change the format ? these new lenses are much poorer quality and I can't imagine getting used to them.Ciba, if you are reading, please bring back Focus !!!

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An ok contact lense

==Why did I begin using Air Optix?==When I was 16 I decided I wanted to try out contact lenses. I was not fond of wearing my glasses all the time and my eye sight was getting worse so it was becoming more important that I wore them all day. I booked an appointment at Specsavers to start using contacts and when I was seen I was told that these contact lenses would probably be most beneficial for me due to the fact that they let more air enter the eye, as my eyes are quite dry this was important. These contact lenses are monthly.

==What kinds of Air Optix lenses can you get and how much do they cost?==I have been using Air Optix Aqua recently which is the new version of the original Air Optix. There is also Air Optix Night and Day available which you can sleep in.

Asda is currently charging £48.00 for a 6 month supply.

==Who makes Air Optix?==Air Optix are manufactured by Ciba Vision. It is worth noting that many of the own branded contact lenses from opticians are actually the same contact lenses.

==What are they made from?==Air Optix are made from silicone hydrogel. A moisture agent with hydrophilic properties mixes with the lens surface to provide a smooth layer which is meant to provide comfort.

==How easy are they to put in?==I always found these fairly easy to put in. As my eyes are quite dry I always used a comfort drop with these, I would simply put a drop on the lense and then put it in my eye. If I put these in without the comfort drop it would feel very uncomfortable (however, it is worth noting that my new contact lenses do not need a comfort drop).

I quite often found that these lenses took a couple of minutes to get comfortable in my eye, with them feeling fairly uncomfortable for the first few minutes on some occasions. However, after a couple of minutes they soon sorted themselves out.

==Are they comfortable to wear?==Yes, when wearing these my eyes felt quite comfortable, occasionally they would feel a little dry and uncomfortable but this would usually sort itself out. I would often wear them for 12 hours a day a couple of times a week and although my eyes felt tired by the end of the day, they were still feeling quite comfortable and were easy to remove. My optician did tell me that because I only wear them a couple of times a week that I could sleep in them occasionally if I wanted but I really didnt fancy this so didnt try it (apart from once by accident and I woke up with very sore eyes)!

==What are they like compared to other lenses?==I changed my lenses from Air Optix to a different brand last week and I now use a two weekly lense. The new lenses are quite a bit more comfortable and I find them much easier to insert and remove. They do cost a little bit more for these though. However, I will be sticking with the new lense as for me, they are more comfortable.

==Would I recommend them?==Yes, I would recommend these but do try and get a trial before buying a supply. They are more comfortable due to the fact that they allow more air to get into the eye but for me personally, I believe there are better ones available on the market (however, this could just be specific for me personally).

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5 out of 5 starts for these montly contact lenses

I started wearing contact lenses approximately six months ago now after feeling fed up with my glasses and the cost involved with changing my glasses style. My prescription hasn't changed for a number of years but I felt the need to buy new frames every 6 months or so, which cost a fair amount of money. I went to my optician and asked for a free week's trial of contact lenses as I was not sure if I would feel comfortable with them or not.

The first pair that the optician tried to put in seemed too big for my eyes to cope with and after five minutes of struggling she opened another pair to force into my eyes! It was all pretty traumatic I have to say and at that point I nearly told her to leave me be, however a few tries later with these new lenses she finally got one in and the other went in rather promptly after that too, result! She explained that the second pair she has put in were a slightly smaller contact lens made by Ciba Vision and named Air Optix. These contact lenses have dimensions of 8.6mm base curve and 14.2mm diameter. These are a soft, flexible contact lenses.

The application of these is the standard lifting of the eyelid and pulling down of the bottom lid, to which you then place the contact lens directly on the centre of you eye, covering the iris area. It took me quite some practice being a novice lens wearer but now it is like second nature. They rarely get trapped air behind them, but if this does happen I simply close my eye and pat my eyelid and they soon even themselves out. The curvature of these lenses sits perfectly with my eye and I really do not feel any discomfort with them or notice that they are there at all most of the time. I have never experienced a lenses slipping out of place or even falling out of my eye. They are a very thin composition and are lightweight, the centre thickness of the lens being 0.08mm hence the lack of noticing them. One disadvantage with their size and thinness is that they are impossible to find once you have dropped them! Which I have done on several occasions. Although they are thin they are very durable and tear proof at the same time.

These Air Optix lenses are monthly disposables and not intended for both day and night use though it is stated that these can be worn for six consecutive nights instead of daily wear. I have only fallen asleep with my lenses in once and it was not a pleasant experience waking up at 3 am and not being able to open my eyes. They had totally dried out and were very uncomfortable so I wouldn't recommend leaving these in over night. They are designed for up to 12 hours of daily wear and my optician suggested having a one day a week break form wearing lenses. I have found that my eyes feel well hydrated during this time, there is never the need to want to use eye drops or solution. This is likely from their 'breathable' design using Air Optix's Silicone Hydrogel technology, which transmits up to five times more oxygen to your eyes than usual soft contact lenses. After about eleven hours I do tend to get tired eyes but they are not dried out at all and are a very enjoyable wear.

The Air Optix lenses come in the following prescriptions;

+6.00D to -8.00D (0.25D steps)

-8.00D to -10.00D (0.25D steps)

They are available to buy in packs of three months minimum, with three left and three right lenses in each box. They are each kept in individual, film covered plasic contained which have solution in keeping the lenses clean and most importantly hydrated. The prices are very variable both in store and online but per month will cost you about £10 - £15 including cases and solution which I find is quite reasonable, your perscription is written on the side of the box. I would absolutely recommend these lenses for their comfort, cost and durability of use.

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Like a few others on here, I have been a very happy wearer of Air Optix Night & Day contact lenses for several years - until my most recent order arrived; I suddenly received the new 'Aqua' versions. After about 2 weeks of continuous wear these have become exceptionally uncomfortable (dry, sore eyes with feeling of grit) and I am unable to wear them for any length of time. I have tried rinsing them, washing them, changing them and eventually throwing them away! Considering the price and the fact that I used to wear the previous versions for a month at a time without even knowing they were there, I am extremely disappointed and have had to book an appointment with the optician to try and find another brand which will give me the comfort of the last version of these lenses.Bring back the previous version!!!!!

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**No problems with my lenses **

**No problems with my lenses **

About 10 years ago I was told that I needed to start wearing glasses. I knew it was coming since my eyesight was bad but I was always dreading the whole idea. I did get my glasses but also lenses so every time I wanted to feel pretty I could just wear them. Before I knew it I was wearing my lenses more often than my glasses!

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Glasses make me feel ugly as it makes me feel and look unnatural. I don't like them it's like they are hiding my face. Lenses give me the same eye sight and they are often more comfortable. I do still wear glasses sometimes but more at night. I used to wear daily lenses but since I liked my lenses I went for to the lenses from Ciba. My optician advised me these and I trusted his advice. i had trouble in the beginning with the idea of wearing my lenses even during the night but after the first night I was already used to it.

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I thought the lenses where going to be bad for my eyes and that they would let trough less oxygen but apparently the overnight lenses let trough more oxygen than the daily ones. They are really comfortable and I love them. I love the feeling of waking up the morning without seeing blurry and not having to look for my glasses first. They feel more comfortable than the daily ones and they make my eyes feel less dry. They are clear lenses and are easy to put in and out as they don't seem to break easily. They are quiet thin but strong and that also gives me a save feeling.

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These lenses are truly great and I'm glad my optician advised me these ones. I don't wear them the whole month and do take my off days since I still like the idea that my eyes have a break from the lenses. It just feels more natural. But these lenses are the most comfortable ones I have ever tried and don't make my eyes feel dry or irritated. Great lenses that you should really consider.

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So much better than gas permeable hard lenses: easier to wear & far more reliable!

When I was growing up my eyesight was near perfect and when I hit my teens had to wear glasses, which became the bane of my life. At 19 I was so short sighted that contact lenses were the last solution but it would take a few more years to get over hard lenses before gas permeable "flexible" hard lenses came on the market and at 23 found them to be more pliable, easier to wear and comfortable, albeit having to keep re-wetting them when they dried out. Hard contact lenses and the gas permeable types were the only alternatives for a number of years to wearing glasses. Covering only the pupil in the eye, the tiny discs were forever always getting lost and being prescriptive lenses meant I had to pay out £100 at a time for a new replacement set. All the while when wearing gas permeable lenses, they would need further wetting from a product called "Hypromelose," that is only available from larger Boots stores. As such gas permeable lenses were being worn lesser and lesser because of drying out and being very sensitive to them from the slightest bit of dirt in the air. The upside of gas permeable hard lenses is that they generally last you for life but the constant re-wetting not to mention expensive solutions and being very sensitive to the plastic construction meant I had to find a better alternative.

Rather than go for the more expensive option of laser treatment this year, my personal optician sat me down with three different types of new contact lenses. I had heard (and read) that the latest of monthly disposable lenses on a yearly contract were one of the best options to go with, not just cost wise but keeping my eyes healthy and giving them more air when worn. I tried dailies but they didn't work, I tried the latest version of gas permeable "hard lens," but the memories of putting the small 5p coin like hard discs back into my eyes meant my last option of paying £36 per every 3 months period lens for soft lenses would be more cost effective based on having to pay for no solution when its already supplied and additionally, no need to buy any other solution product to keep the lenses wet. This is how Air Optix has entered my life!

Now the procedure for fitting is quite similar to what has gone on before and if you have never worn lenses, buy yourself a compact makeup mirror to ensure you look into it when putting the lenses in. It takes a while to get over poking about in your eyes, but I'm a deft hand to the art of it now but initially it took me a while to get used to having to touch my eyes when lenses didn't sit in the centre. Each lens from Air Optix mirrors the thin consistency of clear car stickers but are much more pliable and can easily get lost because their apparent thinness and silicone structure. In this respect although thinner by construction, Air Optix lenses are much bigger than what I'm used to, similar to the size of a £1 coin and cover the entire iris of the eye, which I found disconcerting at first when it came to fitting. Compared to my gas ones, Air Optix is totally scent free, which is a bit of a bonus!

The beauty of these lenses however is the instant revelation I've found of putting them in and these little babies seldom dry out! They appear to sucker onto the iris straight away and are always moist, not needing to be moistened with solution as with gas permeable lenses. All I seem to do is lightly hover over the iris and just push the lenses on slightly. To take them out is as easy to putting them in as you can literally pick the lenses out at the end of the day. As with all contact lenses you need clean hands, especially the fingers and if you try to push the lens onto the eye forcefully, I find Air Optix just turns itself inside out and sticks to my fingers! If you get confused for example as to which side to put in, say if they turn themselves inside out, then it is easy to spot which way goes in. A bowl image without its sides flattened is the correct way that goes towards the eye. If the lens has a flattened rim all the way around, then the lenses are inside out.

Air Optix lenses comes in a box of three, usually three for the left eye, and another box with three lenses for the right eye. Each box has the strength written on them per your prescription or eye strength. Each lens comes pre-packed in its own tear away perforated sealed tray that already has solution in it, so you don't have to crack open any other solution bottle when putting them initially. This is what gives you effectively its three-month duration period and the lenses must be changed per month.

When it comes to wearing Air Optix lenses, I find the experience a delight. Compared to gas permeable lenses, once the Air Optix are in, they feel lightweight, and almost as if my eyes have nothing in them. With gas permeable my eyes felt as if there was something in them, not irritable to the point of taking them back out, but definitely something heavier on the eye itself and there have been times when the slightest rub would knock them out. Air Optix doesn't come out of the eye unless you take it out manually and in windy situations whilst being outdoors, I'm confident the lenses can stand up to whatever the weather throws at them and this includes tearing. In terms of how I look, people are now beginning to realise I'm wearing lenses, but more so commenting on how beautiful my eyes are! I guess this is one of the upsides of Air Optix as it the lenses are visible when covering the entire iris.

The downside to the Air Optix solution is that they are not the "Night and Day," ones that can stay in your eye even when you are asleep. Although they can be worn for 24 hours, my optician recommended no lengthy periods of sleep and at most, an hour could be achieved. Whilst this was trialled on many an occasion, especially on hour long train journeys, my eyes were extremely dry and sticky when I opened my eyes at the end of the journey. You can buy a solution to combat this but I wouldn't suggest taking longer than an hour of sleep with Air Optix generally, otherwise you may need to consider a univeral wetting solution that you can buy for soft lenses of this type, similar to the "Hypromelose," product of my past. Another downside but one of good indication is that although they are supposed to be changed per month, so if you forget and wear these all the time and give or take a week after the month, the lenses themselves aren't as moist anymore and can be difficult to place on the eyeball. They also feel a little more brittle after their month is up.

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Ciba Vision Air Optix

Ciba Vision Air Optix

I have been wearing glasses since the age of 12 and hated them from the first moment I tried them on. They never really felt comfortable and it just felt unnatural to me wearing them. It certainly didn't help that at the same time I was wearing braces! As you can imagine I had quite a complex during those years. When a friend advised me I should try lenses I was terrified. Just the idea of putting my fingers in my eyes, I hated it but I suppose I was desperate enough to try them. Well getting the lenses in was easy enough but trying to get them out took me the whole night....

Lenses give me more freedom but most important just a good vision during the day what you really need. I still wear my glasses from now and then and got over the whole complex thing. I used to wear 'normal' lenses for during the day but my optician advised me that I should try out these lenses from Ciba. First I really didn't like the idea of sleeping with lenses in because I always feel that you should give your eyes some rest and normally I would wear my glasses at night. But apparently the overnight lenses allowed more oxygen trough than the normal daily ones so I tried them out.

I really have to say that I love them. I wear these lenses during the night and it's just a great feeling standing up in the morning without having to grab first for your glasses in order to see. You just stand up and even now without realizing you see normal and clear. Most important is that my eyes feel less dry than normal daily lenses and I worry less about wearing them. They really seem to let trough more air which is important for your eyes because never let your eyes dry out. When your eyes feel dry stop wearing your lenses because you don't want to damage your eyes and also tell your optician that you got dry eyes.

I still feel that your eyes should be able to take a rest so I don't wear them every day of the month but I do take a break here and there. Maybe it's more the feeling but I know that my eyes just feel better and it also relaxes me a bit. I also don't hate wearing my glasses anymore so that certainly helps now. In conclusion great lenses and it doesn't harm in trying them out for a few days!

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Worth it just for the quality of the lenses.

Having worn daily contact lenses for many years now, I finally switched to monthly contact lenses three years ago. This was due to the sheer amount of dailies I was going through: it made sense financially to switch to monthlies. After a hell of a lot of research, I finally decided on trying Air Optix as it claimed more air into the eye, and whatnot.

It seems that Air Optix has stayed true to its claim as I have found that the lenses can stay in the eye, comfortably too, for longer than the recommended 12-14 hours! Although I don't do this often (only once or twice so far in the past three years), it just goes to show how comfortable these lenses really are. I haven't tried any other brand of monthly lenses so I cannot compare, but these seem to be of a good quality and stay true to their word.

Although they are a bit more expensive than other monthly lens companies, this one still wins hands down to me: due to it's reliability and the quality of the lenses. Rarely have I had a contact lens rip of it's own accord, and for this reason, I will be staying a loyal customer to this brand.

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Worth the money, better than laser surgery

Without doubt, these beauties have changed my life. Prior to finding Air Optix Night and Day, I had been to the opticians to enquire about laser vision but was sent on my sorry way, having been told it would be impossible to have my eyes lasered for various reasons. He suggested I try monthly disposable lenses, a concept I had not ever heard of. With this, I did the research and two years later, I am thankful I did not waste thousands on laser surgery, when these do pretty much the same thing without the worrying aspect of having lasers shot in your eyes!

I put them in at the start of the month and forget about them for 30 days (often longer I'm scared to admit!). They are comfortable and never blurry except for infrequent visits to the steam room at the local health club.

I frequently get up at 4am to start work and in the past, trying to stuff some cheap contacts in my sleepy eyes was hazardous and frankly, never worked. This changed all that; meaning I could fall asleep with them on and wake up in them.

I don't feel like monthly disposables are ever marketed in quite the same way as other lenses and for that, I feel like a lot of people miss out on the sheer quality and convenience of these contacts. Yes, they are more expensive than standard daily lenses - I pay around £15 a month per pair (and have them imported from Sweden to save money).

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Give these lenses a chance!

Like many of the recent reviewers, I have been using the Night and Day contacts for years. When I went for my exam a couple of months ago, my doctor told me CIBA had changed the makeup of the contacts. The new lenses have a coating, as well as a blue tint and an "OK" imprint indicating right side-out. I guess CIBA had problems with deterioration in the old lenses, and people weren't getting 30 days use out of them so they added a new coating to make them more durable. When I first tried the new lenses, I had to take them out after a couple of hours because they were so uncomfortable. I stuck with it though, and as the days passed I was able to wear the lenses for more time, although for a while they would still get really dry towards the evening. After a couple of weeks, I was able to wear them throughout the whole day with no discomfort. (I never wear them to sleep because I have naturally drier eyes than normal). So what I'm saying is, if you loved the old Night and Day lenses, give your eyes some time to adjust to the new ones. It might be uncomfortable for a while, but if you're willing to stick it out you will be able to adjust to the new lenses.

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A good all round lens, comfortable and inexpensive.

I have tried various different brands of monthly disposable lenses, and have often had difficulty finding ones that work well for me as I work on the computer constantly at work, and don't blink very often (which I should, I know!). Therefore it has been hard finding ones that feel comfortable and keep my eyes feeling moisturised and not grainy. I found the Air Optix Aqua lenses to be pretty good in this sense, as I wasn't generally aware that I had lenses in my eyes, which is a sign of a good lens! Although the normal Air Optix lenses are pretty good, after a trial from my optician, I have since changed to Air Optix Aqua, and I find these just slightly better (the moisturisation level is a little better). I've been using them for the past year and am pretty happy with them. You get 3 lenses to a case, so 2 packs of lenses will give you 3 months worth of lenses. I currently purchase my Air Optix Aqua from Posh Eyes website, as they work out pretty cheap compared to buying them from my optician. I tend to buy 6 months worth as the savings are even better.

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I'm so disappointed with these lenses. I have been wearing Focus N&D for years without issue, but at my most recent eye exam, my eye doctor advised me that Ciba had changed the name/makeup of these lenses (old version no longer avail) and they now have some sort of additive to maintain moisture (or something along those lines) and that there have been reports of people experiencing eye irritation. I wasn't worried...I wont be one of those. Well, was I wrong. My eyes became so irritated, red, sore, uncomfortable that I had to stop using them. Luckily I had kept my old pair I now have to find a suitable replacement...TBD. I wish they would make the old version available.

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The new Air Optix lenses make my eyes terribly dry and itchy, leaving a film on the lenses, and my eyes ache after I take them out. What happened?? I LOVED the old lenses (Focus Night and Day). Why did they have to change them? I need to get a new brand because I just can't tolerate these anymore.